Tener (to have) is irregular in El Presente:
| yo | tengo |
| tú | tienes |
| él / ella / Ud. | tiene |
| nosotros / nosotras |
tenemos |
| vosotros / vosotras |
tenéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | tienen |
Look at and listen to these examples:
Yo tengo un perro.
I have a dog.
Tú tienes un coche grande.
You have a big car.
Ella tiene una falda azul.
She has a blue skirt.
Usted tiene 57 años.
You are 57 years old.
Nosotros tenemos una casa en la playa.
We have a house on the beach.
Vosotras tenéis una tía en Chile.
You have an aunt in Chile.
Ellas tienen una guitarra española.
They have a Spanish guitar.
For more verbs that follow a similar pattern, see:
Verbos yo -go (presente) and for verbs that derive from "tener" see List of Tener and its derivatives
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Ellas tienen una guitarra española.
They have a Spanish guitar.
Tú tienes un coche grande.
You have a big car.
Vosotras tenéis una tía en Chile.
You have an aunt in Chile.
Yo tengo un perro.
I have a dog.
Nosotros tenemos una casa en la playa.
We have a house on the beach.
Usted tiene 57 años.
You are 57 years old.
Ustedes tienen una hija rubia.
You have a blond daughter.
Ella tiene una falda azul.
She has a blue skirt.
Cheyenne
Kwiziq community member
21 March 2019
1 reply
Why is the nosotras conjugation of this not tenemas?
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
21 March 2019
21/03/19
Hola Cheyenne
There is no agreement between the verbs endings and the gender of the pronoun. When we have a pronoun in the feminine form, like ella, ellas, vosotras, they still have the same ending as él, ellos and vosotros.
The agreement is always between articles, nouns, pronouns and adjectives, for example:
Las chicas son guapas (The girls are pretty)
Los chicos son guapos (The boys are handsome)
Notice how the verb doesn't change (son)
Hope this helps.
Inma